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Place dossier plate
SheetMS-PEARLINGTON-MS · Pearlington, MS 989 pop · income 22nd pct
Instrument codes from this place’s ACS population and household income, BEA state COL, FBI safety, national income percentile, photo-finish peer city, home-value band, and matched Census-tract book - not a moving recommendation.
Income neighbourhood around Pearlington
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Pearlington on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Friars Point · lowest
21,181
Friars Point · lowest
21,181 median HH income
16.0% of the leader · rank #1
Pearlington · this city
51,719
Pearlington · this city
51,719 median HH income
39.0% of the leader · rank #2
El Adobe · near
51,719
El Adobe · near
51,719 median HH income
39.0% of the leader · rank #3
Rackerby · near
51,719
Rackerby · near
51,719 median HH income
39.0% of the leader · rank #4
La Rose · near
51,719
La Rose · near
51,719 median HH income
39.0% of the leader · rank #5
Mulberry · near
51,719
Mulberry · near
51,719 median HH income
39.0% of the leader · rank #6
Mansfield Cen… · highest
132,639
Mansfield Cen… · highest
132,639 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #7
What this shows Neighbourhood peers only - not a full nationwide city board. Open a near peer when the gap is small; open the poles when the spread is wide.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Pearlington on ACS population and median household income
. Link sets are deduped so each column is a distinct comparison path, not a forecast that peers share a labor market or climate.
Similar population
Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS population. This city: 989.
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, Pearlington places in the 22nd percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
22nd
percentile, household income
13th
percentile, home value
0th
percentile, median rent
📝 How we sourced this
Population, income, and housing-cost figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates (B-series tables). Crime data uses FBI UCR; climate uses NOAA Climate Normals; school counts come from NCES Common Core of Data; permits use the Census Building Permits Survey (BPS). See our methodology page for the full ETL pipeline and OMB / FIPS join keys.
Data Snapshot: Pearlington, MS
989 people live in Pearlington, Mississippi - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Households in Pearlington report a median income of $51,719 per year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 19.8%. Pearlington's housing stock carries a median value of $108,700, and the median resident age is 48.8 years. Educational attainment runs 11.9% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 53.9% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Living costs in Mississippi run below the national norm: BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 puts Mississippi at 87.0 on a 100-equals-national-average scale (Well Below Average). Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $924 monthly. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in Mississippi run around $223, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. FEMA's National Risk Index rates natural-hazard exposure at 50.9 out of 100 (Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Pearlington's data
How this reading path is ordered
This is not a composite city score. It is a city-specific route through the available public records, ordered for this profile so the page starts with questions the joined data can actually answer. The route here runs from comparison shortlist to housing and income to work and mobility; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Pearlington, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for annual population history, local building permits, matched public-school count, FBI reported-crime rates, within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
Which cities make useful reference points for Pearlington?
Within Mississippi, the closest population matches are Friars Point (997 residents, $21,181 income); Vardaman (1,004 residents, $36,000 income); Alcorn State University (1,007 residents). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Hanson, KY (989 residents); Tuscola, TX (989 residents); Mansfield Center, CT (988 residents). A third, income-matched reference set of 6 out-of-state cities sits in the income neighbourhood chart near the Place Dossier plate. These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.
Use the in-state set to hold state policy and broad price conditions more nearly constant. Use the nationwide size set to ask whether cities with a similar resident count produce different housing, income, or commute outcomes. The income set is a third lens, deliberately separate from population matching.
How far does income reach against housing in Pearlington?
The home-value-to-income reference is relatively compact: the ACS median home value is 2.1 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 19.8%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
This is a citywide price-to-income reference, not a mortgage-affordability test; it does not include interest rates, taxes, insurance, household size, or an individual buyer's down payment. The ratio makes housing the clearest place to start this profile, but a low multiple can coexist with slow demand, older stock, or household-level hardship. Compare the home-value distribution and same-state peer table before treating it as an advantage.
What does the journey to work look like in Pearlington?
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. No single mode completely explains the work trip here. The mix is more useful than a one-number commute grade, especially when comparing places where transit, walking, and remote work divide the non-driving share differently.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 73.5%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Very affordable · BEA RPP 2024, Mississippi average
F
City profile score · Pearlington, MS
37/100
4 published dimensions · ACS/FBI 2023
Comparative score against U.S. cities with population of 1,000 or more on Census ACS medians
(income, poverty, bachelor's share, cost of living) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when
published. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability
rating, not a recommendation to move, buy, or pick a "best" city. Missing inputs drop out
and redistribute weight.
How it is calculated.
Cost of living A+
87.0 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Household income F
$51,719
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate F
19.8%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share F
11.9%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Pearlington profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 97/100 (A+) · 87.0 index
Household income: 23/100 (F) · $51,719
Poverty rate: 14/100 (F) · 19.8%
Bachelor's+ share: 12/100 (F) · 11.9%
How does Pearlington compare to other US cities?
Here's how Pearlington stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income22% higher than other cities
Home value13% pricier than other cities
Median rent0% pricier than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Pearlington against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Mississippi only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
Mississippi-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Pearlington near the bottom of Mississippi's cities
Among the 395 Mississippi cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Pearlington ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Pearlington only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#128 of 345
63rd percentile in Mississippi
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 395
0th percentile in Mississippi
Median Home Value
#177 of 348
49th percentile in Mississippi
Poverty Rate
#171 of 393
56th percentile in Mississippi
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#271 of 394
31st percentile in Mississippi
How in-state ranks are ordered
Ranked by raw value (highest first); a higher rank is not automatically "better" for every measure, see each metric's own context above. This is a comparison within Mississippi only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
22nd percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Pearlington's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$108,700Among the most affordablemore affordable than 87% of 15,600 US cities
Show national distribution
Each bar is a $25K-wide band; taller bars hold more US cities. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2023
Pearlington's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.1×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#2,010 of 15,516
More affordable than 87% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#1,905 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 2.1×, Pearlington sits in the affordable band:
national rank #2,010 of 15,516 and #1,905 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
The multiple is comparatively compact among tracked cities, but a low ratio can still coexist with slow demand or household-level hardship.
How this ratio is calculated
Ratio = Census ACS 2023 median home value ÷ median household income for cities with both fields and population ≥ 1,000.
Rank 1 = lowest ratio (most compact). Bands match the fleet affordability thresholds used on guides (<3.0 / 3.0–5.0 / >5.0).
This is not a mortgage payment estimate and does not include rates, taxes, insurance, or down payment.
Income distribution context
$51,719Pearlington, MS median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Pearlington, MS median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Pearlington, MS.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)11.9%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)19.8%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)53.9%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
989
Median Income
$51,719
Median Home Value
$108,700
Median Age
48.8
Poverty Rate
19.8%
Labor force participation
53.9%
Bachelor's Degree+
11.9%
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
73.5%
Carpool
21.3%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.0%
Work from Home
2.7%
Other
2.5%
Based on 445 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
Mississippi statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $223
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Mississippi at $223 (electricity about $135 , water and sewer about $38 ).
These are Mississippi statewide averages, not a meter reading for Pearlington. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
Mississippi's BEA cost-of-living index is 87.0 (Well Below Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Pearlington is $924/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Mississippi statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 50.9 / 100 (Low).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a Mississippi statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Pearlington sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Pearlington compares to similar-size Mississippi cities
Same-state peer method
Closest same-state population matches, not geographic neighbors. Population + median household income come from Census Bureau ACS 5-year B01001 and B19013.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, Census ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.